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Young testifies about spending funds from millionaire's estate

SAN ANGELO — Prosecutors kicked off the third week of Sweetwater attorney John Young's trial on Monday by cross-examining the defendant, who explained how he spent funds from a deceased millionaire's estate.

Young is accused of forging a will with San Angelo bail bondsman Ray Castro Zapata, 66, to take John Edward Sullivan's approximately $8 million estate after his death in 2014. The Texas Rangers charged Young, 57, and Zapata on two counts apiece of forgery, money laundering and theft in March 2015.

Before the jury was called in, the state withdrew its motion granting Zapata "use or derivative use" immunity to compel his testimony in the trial.

During the time Young had control of Sullivan's estate, he paid himself, several family members and other legal staff before the Texas Rangers began an investigation, Assistant Attorney General Johnathan White, one of the prosecuting attorneys, established during cross-examination.

"I believed I had the legal authority to spend the funds," said Young, citing that Tom Green County Court-at-Law Judge Ben Nolen had probated the will and because of legal advice from trusted lawyers.

"I didn't want to pay (Zapata) because he'd been a witness on a will where I was the beneficiary," Young said. "I was uncomfortable."

Young added he assumed Chris Hartman, a lawyer with offices in Sweetwater and Snyder — brought in by Young to work on the forfeiture case — would pay Zapata.

According to testimony, Young transferred $167,500 to Hartman from the estate. Later, $65,312.50 was transferred from Hartman to Zapata.

Young said he also relied on Hartman's advice in deciding to cremate Sullivan's body, explaining Hartman was his legal counsel.

"I was advised by my lawyer that we were incurring expenses and the most efficient thing to do was to move the body out of the funeral home."

White also brought up the flurry of phone calls between Young, Zapata and Hartman after Sullivan's body was discovered and asked about what was discussed.

Young said he mostly couldn't recall or didn't have knowledge of what was discussed. "I do recall we were all very shaken up," he said.

He denied making a conference call between the three of them, even though Young's phone records shared by the state showed a call with the notation "confcall."

"Well, we do have the benefit of having phone records," White said.

Despite several phone calls — the first one at 3:24 p.m. from Zapata to Young — nothing about the will was mentioned until a 6:25 p.m. call from Hartman to Young, Young said.

White then mention the probate process for the will and reminded Young that he swore to a judge the will, written in the back of a Catholic missal, was in Sullivan's handwriting.

"That day, and even for a while after that, I believed it was," Young said, adding that after the discovery process, and listening to experts and witnesses he had "questions about that now."

Young described Sullivan as a smart man, a horse trader, proud of his Irish roots, who could be articulate.

"Do you think he knew how to spell Irish?" White asked as he pointed at a blown-up image of the will in question, speckled with misspellings and factual inconsistencies.

"I assume he would," Young said.

White pointed out Sullivan often went over a contract crossing out items he didn't like or adding in things that would save him money.

"Is it reasonable to believe that he would leave his entire estate (to you) without clear instructions ... or conditions whatsoever that governed how the money was spent?" he asked. "This was the guy who nickel and dimed you on contracts."

"That was just John's way," Young said. Young remained mostly calm — only getting emotional when discussing paying for a diamond ring for his wife — his gaze darting back and forth between his lawyers and the jury, and even briefly smiling.

The defense called Mark Walker, a preacher from Midland who also works at the United Way there, as a character witness and then called Chris Hartman, 36.

Hartman, who's worked with Young in different capacities for numerous years, described his mentor as "scatterbrained" and on the day that Sullivan's body was discovered "emotional."

He couldn't recalled the specifics of his conversations with Sullivan on that day, but did remember discussing the contingency fee from the forfeiture owed to them both, and later the will and how best to deal with it.

Hartman testified that he's done more than 30 completed probates, not counting estate planning and drawing up wills.

"I typically advise my clients to (get a will probated) as soon as possible to avoid frivolous claims," Hartman said. This is the same advice he gave Young. "When somebody dies, people seem to come out of the woodwork, people with unfounded claims, attitudes change...."